Chicago Tribune endorsement for alderman: Ward 33

Editorial BoardEditorials reflect the opinion of the Editorial Board, as determined by the members of the board, the editorial page editor and the publisher.

Incumbent Ald. Deborah H. Mell, who goes by Deb, is weary of being viewed as standing in the shadow of her father, former alderman Dick Mell, once a household name in Chicago machine politics. Fair enough: She should be measured on her own record, not on the record of the man who memorably leapt up on a desk during the fiery 1987 City Council session to pick a successor to the late Mayor Harold Washington. And she measures up well. “Anyone who knows my father, knows we are different people,” Mell tells us. “I run my own campaign, my own ward office.” Within her ward, her record’s praiseworthy. Accomplishments include shepherding $28 million in upgrades to parks in her ward, including a hockey rink, a dog park and new riverfront trails. Schools in the 33rd, which includes parts of Albany Park, Avondale, Irving Park, Ravenswood Manor and North Center, have received $29 million in capital improvements under her watch. In the runoff, she faces Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, who led all candidates in the Feb. 26 election with 42 percent of the vote. She leans far left — she backs rent control, a federal tax on financial transactions and reinstatement of a corporate head tax. Mell is endorsed.